


The Road Not Taken

by Androzani84



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-11-21 13:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 12,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11358771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Androzani84/pseuds/Androzani84
Summary: What happens when one tiny event occurs differently?





	1. Prologue

The Road Not Taken

Prologue

Time. It works in mysterious ways. Events in the present can run simultaneously with events in the past and the future. In some instances, travellers can move beyond the Temporal Gate and interact with other eras. This creates ripples that affect events that occur prior to arrival. One decision can alter the entire fabric of cause and effect. And this is where our story begins.

She had been with them for over a year, but now it was time to return home. She remembered the day her mother had requested she go back. Back to a less civilised era 1000 years in the past. To learn from a younger version of her mother and her friends. In that time, they had averted at least two potential apocalypses, one from a demon, hailing from deep space, the other a fallen queen hell bent on eternal youth. But she felt that her parents, Serenity and Endymion, or as she had come to know them, Usagi and Mamoru, were missing her, especially since she had nearly been erased from existence. Now Chibi-Usa, or as she was known in the future, the Small Lady, was ready. In the past, she had been known as Sailor Chibi-Moon in deference to her mother's former title, Sailor Moon. She had planned to continue this alias upon her return to the future. But when she entered the Gate of Time to go back to her future, something was different. Instead of the usual white mist, there was a sort of red thunder. Chibi-Usa tried to resist, up she was pulled in.

 _2 years ago_  
Mina sat down dejected. Though being new to the Sailor team, it didn't affect her as much, she knew how the others felt about the loss of Darien. Despite her own past experiences with love, she had to be the team's source of positivity now more than ever. To that end, she had taken Serena to a hairstylist for a total makeover. It helped that the place was offering free treatment to teenage girls. She didn't question this seemingly poor financial decision. If they thought it brought in customers, who was she to argue with them? Suddenly, one of the staff came up to her.

"We're ready for you now.", said the woman patronisingly.

"Oh no," said Mina "I'm only here with a friend."

"Nonsense.", said the woman "you look like you could use a free treatment." This insistence told Mina that something was off about this woman. She pulled out her power pen and said the magic phrase to unlock her powers.

"Venus Power!" In an instant, the Sailor Scout of love and justice was standing there, shocking the woman. But before Mina could launch her Crescent Beam attack, someone hit her on the back of her head. The last thing she saw before segueing into unconsciousness was a blond man in a red-trimmed uniform, then she blacked out.

 _1 year ago_  
Raye was sat in her grandfather's temple. Technically it was her's now, since the old man had been taken away. Recently, she had been having visions of destruction. A large wave of silence eclipsing the entire world, destroying everyone in it's path. This appeared to be an even bigger threat than the Nega-Verse could be. She decided that something needed to be done to try and keep the world turning. She went over to one of the temple's trees, in which people would put slips of paper. These slips had the people's various wishes written on them. Raye honestly had no idea if they ever came true. But now she would try it and find out for herself. She wrapped the paper containing her desire around one of the tree's branches.

"I wish for world peace.", she said quietly to no one in particular. Suddenly, there was a flash and the tree began to shake and turn into a humanoid woman, who declared "Heart Attack!" Considering that meatball brain Serena's current state-of-mind, this was something Sailor Mars would have to deal with herself. But even she, with her pyrokinetic abilities, could not stop this monster in it's mission. By the time two similarly dressed figures arrived on the scene, the creature was gone and the girl had collapsed, dead away.

 _A few months ago_  
A large circus had appeared in the middle of town. Compared to the somewhat derelict buildings surrounding it, the tent was pristine. Inside, several of the various occupants were discussing their arrival. The creatures, who would not look out of place in a freak show, were discussing how apparently no-one had seen them arrive (even, considering the solar eclipse they had arrived in).

"How could they miss something like us?"

"Perhaps they did notice and simply didn't think much of it. This sort of thing must be pretty commonplace by now."

Suddenly, a loud booming voice filled the air. "SILENCE!" Out of nowhere, Grand Zirconia appeared on his podium, all light focused on him. "Amazon Trio, present yourself!" From their own personal dimensions, his servants, Tiger's Eye, Hawk's Eye and Fish's Eye appeared before him. "As you know, the pure one has surfaced here on Earth, in the dreams of a human. There are only a few candidates it could be in this country's current climate. The search should be simple. Do not fail me, or I shall punish all 3 of you!" "Yes, Grand Zirconia!", replied the three underlings.

Once they were gone, Zirconia turned towards his master, trapped in the dark mirror. The voice spoke to him "Good work my puppet. I shall soon locate and send forth my other warriors, the Amzoness Quartet. Soon, the Golden Crystal and the power of Elysion will be ours!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first serious attempt at writing serious fan-fiction. As you may note, the second paragraph uses Japanese character names, but the later ones use the dub names (ie. Esmeraulde=Emerald). This is a subtle hint to the nature of this story. Those three paragraphs were added later on to make this prologue worth reading for some people. They're all based on episodes of the anime, but here are some things that don't match up with the episodes. This is another hint. At the time of writing this, I have written 10 out of a planned 12 chapters. I am currently editing them to add a flashback in every chapter, similar to these last three paragraphs. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I will see you again for chapter 1.


	2. Chapter 1: The Custom-Made Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a glimpse into the worst possible type of life. Dystopia

_She was beginning to feel worried. She had come here to take her mind off recent losses. The only thing about this seminar that could be associated with her presence was that it was a test. Like all tests she took, she had passed easily. Now she and the other potential princesses who passed the princess seminar were walking into the drawing room to receive certificates from the Countess. But there was nothing in the room, save for several wax models of teenage girls, no two of them identical. Suddenly, the Countess Rose emerged from seemingly nowhere._

_"Look at these waxworks. Aren't they lovely?", enquired the Countess. "They're not waxworks. They're young ladies who managed to pass my class. Just like you." Suddenly, the European woman's eyes glowed red, there was a flash and she was replaced by a blue-skinned woman, with hair and a dress made of oysters. "My name is Polite Society. It's a pleasure to meet you girls." Amy moved to the back through the others who passed. While the monster from the Nega-Verse was spraying the girl's with mucus from her hands, which turned them into more waxworks. She took advantage of this distraction to transform "Mercury Power!" But when she engaged the figure that was the Countess Rose, her attacks proved horribly ineffective. It didn't take long for Sailor Mercury to go down, reduced to just another statue._

It was dead.

Everything at the Cherry Hill Temple was dead. The water in the fountain was contaminated and the ground, which had once been home to trees before the war, was now lifeless and irradiated. The only sign of any life was a tramp sitting in a chair. But he was unimportant to the two soldiers. Baker and Gimmerson had to get back to base before curfew, or they'd suffer a horrible fate. While dashing for cover, Gimmerson nearly tripped on a corpse. It was the shrine maiden, before what had happened to her over a year ago. He screamed.

"I can't believe you" said Baker in her heavy accent. "We've been living through events like this for over two years. Yet you still bawl like a big baby." Her cohort put his hands up defensively.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. It's just I've heard strange stories about this place. They say that the old man became one of the monsters patrolling sector 1. And they say that this girl's death is what led to the takeover of Sector 2 by the Sovereign of Silence."

"Honestly", replied Baker. "You'd think people like us would be just your average high school students, disregarding this sort of thing as as silly children's stories. But in today's world, where you could be energy drained, heart snatched, or turned into a Remless drone at any time, its more real than anything else."

As she said this, a nearby Vacuum Cleaner converted itself into something else. The resulting creature resembled a woman, but with blue skin and a bizarre elephant hat. It reached out towards Gimmerson, sucking a crystal from his body. He screamed and collapsed on the floor. With his final breath, he managed to say "I'm sorry, Molly" before he knew no more.

"Melvin" cried Molly in shock. Quickly, she took out her rifle and tried to shoot the monster dead. But since it's body was composed of plastic, the heart snatcher felt nothing. Then the water in the fountain underwent a similar transformation to that of the vacuum a few seconds ago. This monster was amphibious in appearance and wore your average swimming gear; a pair of goggles, a snorkel, a female swimsuit and an inflatable ring. This creature managed to remove Molly's heart crystal, before the tramp decided to attack with a flamethrower.

"Stop that or I'll melt you to mush, you monsters", he said in a dramatic voice. Taking the message, the two monsters departed with their spoils, leaving two new corpses next to the pre-existing one.

The two creatures returned to the lair of their mistress, the Sovereign of Silence. She had been their leader since she betrayed their ultimate master, Pharaoh 90 and taken command of their forces. She had been content to conquer merely part of Tokyo, only attacking victims for sustenance. As the two creatures walked through the fortress that had once served as the mansion of Dr. Tomoe, the field leader for their human servants, the Bureau of Bad Behaviour, they saw two heads mounted on spikes. One was Kaorinite, Tomoe's former former assistant who had abused the Sovereign's human host, Hotaru Tomoe. The other was Tomoe himself, still marked with the symbol of Germatroid, the Pharaoh's other servant. They came to the throne room of Mistress 9, guarded by her two elite heart snatchers, Mikusi, once the Shrines wishing tree, and Cenicienta, once a glass slipper. Seeing the prize the underlings had brought, the two guards granted them access. Inside the room, which was filled with children's toys such as Serpenterra and Megatron(the tank, not the gun). The one thing that stood out (besides the throne at the end of the room) was a grotesque creature. It was misshapen, bearing little resemblance to any living creature, save perhaps for its black eyes and jagged fang-like teeth. Though the Sovereign never called it anything herself, others, such as the members of the Witches 5 division (the last survivors of the human collaborators) had taken to referring to it as "the pet". Ignoring the beast, the two new minions, now calling themselves Dovlin and Osojii, presented their trophies to Mistress 9, who devoured them in mere moments.

"Excellent" said their master. "You shall both be rewarded for your service."

In the Neutral Zone, where neither of the three rulers (Metalia, Mistress 9 or Nehelenia) had any control over citizens, a soldier went running into the OSA.P jewellery store. Once it had been a nice place, famed for infrequent attacks by monsters from the Nega-Verse. Now it was abandoned, used as a base for the small resistance force. The soldier ran upstairs to meet her leader, Anderson in what was once the owner's bedroom.

"What is it, Amara?", enquired Anderson, or as she was known to the majority of the people in the neutral zone, Sailor Mercury (Amy to her friends).

"It's not good Amy" replied Amara, or as the crowd knew her, Sailor Uranus. She was working not just to free the city from the tyrants that threatened to destroy the world at any time, but to find her Michelle, a distant cousin that she considered more than a platonic friend. The two had worked together for years as the sailor scouts for Uranus and Neptune. But since the second apocalypse that had allowed Mistress 9 to gain a foothold, Michelle had vanished in a solo assassination attempt that had obviously failed. She knew she was still alive, due to a feeling deep inside her heart and her soul. Amara continued "Molly and Melvin failed to make it back in time for the curfews to kick in. They were killed by two Heart Snatchers. Our sources have named them Osojii and Dovlin." Amy looked sad. The two had been friends of hers after she had transferred to Crossroad Junior High from Brighton Academy. However, there was no time to mourn them now. The mission... and finding the missing Serena... was top priority.

"Make sure to send a squad out to search for any stragglers", she commanded. "We won't lose any other valuable assets to the cause."

Chiba-Usa awoke in the middle of a street. It resembled the one she had departed the present from, only more ruined. She assumed she must have arrived during the time of ice. Acting upon this assumption, she decided to pay Usagi's house a visit. But when she got there, the place was boarded up and the windows had been smashed. She also realised she hadn't seen anyone since she had come here. At first, the Small Lady assumed that some cataclysm had occurred due to her absence.

Deciding to search for survivors, she prepared to transform into her Sailor Chibi-Moon form. She cried out "Moon Crisis Power, Make Up!" She felt her whole body shaking, being altered all over. Words could not describe the joy that the sensation brought about. Within seconds, the magic trick was complete. The little girl was gone, replaced by a guardian of love and justice. It was at this point that the Small Lady finally saw what appeared to be another human being. She was a policewoman, Chibi-Usa immediately realised (They didn't need law enforcement in Crystal Tokyo). The uniform clearly suggested she was within a few years of the era she had departed from. But she didn't remember any cataclysms within the late 20th/early 21st century.

"You shouldn't be out here little girl" said the policewoman.

Suddenly, the woman began to change into something else. She now had yellow, reptile like skin, a shorter, messier hairstyle and a very revealing black dress. The Small Lady recognised it as a youma, one of the demonic servants of the Dark Kingdom. But she knew that the Dark Kingdom had been destroyed before her arrival. Could this one straggler have escaped and wreaked all this havoc? Before she had time to further think about this question, two people, covered head to toe in combat gear (helmets, goggles, barraclavas etc) swung in. With their weapons, they gunned the creature down in a few seconds. Chibi-Usa turned in shock at her sudden saviours.

"You shouldn't be here, kid", said the one who had fired the shot. Then he noticed something "that uniform."

"Who are you?", enquired the little girl.

"You're coming with us.", stated the soldier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to the notes for chapter 1. The title is an allusion to an issue of IDW's Transformers. The flashback at the beginning, like the ones in the prologue, was added on later. I kind of regret doing it in retrospect, because the tension it creates is ultimately lessened by the rest of the chapter. I also feel I could have handled Mercury's reveal later on slightly better, but I couldn't think of a plausible way to keep it secret. The monster at the mansion was an early idea and I have planned who it is from when I originally wrote these words on my notes app. I'll see you in a few days for chapter 2.


	3. Chapter 2: World Without End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get some more development and we find out what exactly is going on.

_Raye was tired. She had come to the ski resort to get away from it all. To try and clear her head of everyone she had on her mind; Darien, Mina, Amy, all of them lost. It had been lucky that her grandfather's protege, Chad, had a lodge at the resort. But still probably thinking subconsciously about Serena, she had entered the resort's annual "Miss Moon Princess" competition. That had not gone well at all. An avalanche had injured or killed many of the contestants and landed her in a pit with Chad. If he was unconscious or out of her line of sight, she could use her powers to melt her way out. Suddenly, a figure appeared at the top of the cliff. It was last year's winner, Miranda "Stormy" Kincaid._

_"Stormy, you came.", Raye cried out hopefully. But instead of answering, the woman jumped with an inhuman strength and turned into a monster mid-jump._

_"Oh please, honey. Just call me Blizzard.", the monster replied, before she froze Chad in a block of solid ice. Then Stormy - Blizzard - turned to face her. But with Chad incapacitated, she had an opening to transform. Her opponent barely gave her time to pull out her power pen before freezing her too._

In the circus tent at the centre of Sector 3, Queen Nehelenia was worried. She had managed to hold this power for 8 months. She had come to Earth to gather more dream mirrors to increase her power and prolong her life. Initially, she had been trapped in a mirror dimension, the prison made for her by Queen Serenity over 1000 years ago. Her minions, led by an avatar named Zirconia had set up a circus tent in this city.

Within a few days, Zirconia and his minions had found the Golden Dream Mirror, which was vital to freeing her. The host it had chosen now lay on the wheel a regular circus would use for a knife throwing act. One of her friends had tried to free her, but had failed and become one of the Queen's Remless drones. These were beings that had been relieved of their dream mirror and had it consumed by the Queen. Nehelenia only consumed them to preserve her life for centuries, but she had found a use for these mindless beasts. Once she had created enough, she would take over not only this miserable city from her rivals, but the cities known as London and New York, both major hubs on this planet. But first, she had to deal with the prisoner.

She had always wondered when her life had really gone wrong. Had it been when her parents died in that fateful crash? Or had it been when she was expelled for what was perceived as bullying? Regardless of what it actually was, this was her life now. She wasn't merely Lita Kino anymore. Now she was Sailor Jupiter, Guardian of thunder and courage. Now she was trying to free this city from those that would cause it harm. But it hadn't been easy. They'd lost both Mars and Venus since the fight had began. Then they got help from two new Sailor Scouts; Uranus and Neptune. Then Neptune had also disappeared trying to take out the enemy known as the Sovereign of Silence. Then Venus had returned, having previously faked her death to ascertain information.

Then the third enemy showed up and Sailor Moon had been kidnapped. Finally, Venus, or as they knew her, Mina, hadn't been seen since she tried to rescue Serena (Sailor Moon). All this was over a year ago. Now, the few remnants of free will in Tokyo had gathered into a fighting force, dedicated to ridding the city of its 3 conquerors. Lita was about to head off on a mission into Sector 1, controlled by the forces of the Nega-verse. But before her team could go, Alpha team had returned from patrol in that Sector, bringing with them what looked like a smaller version of Serena.

At a glance, it was all so strange. Mere minutes ago, the Small Lady had left behind a fairly stable city where many had simply took little notice of her. Now, the entire district was very dystopian and the people looked upon her with shock. At first, she had assumed they were just grateful to see one of the Senshi after months of living in an overcrowded ghetto. But this level of shock indicated something she had only just considered.

"A parallel world," Chibi-Usa said to herself. No-one but the man escorting her noticed what she said. "Like my Earth, but with different events to the one I know."

"I don't know what you're talking about, kid." The soldier said to her "but this is the only earth I know of."

"Who are you?" Asked the little girl.

"Someone who thought you'd be some help. But so far, most of what you've said doesn't make any apparent sense. I'm going to take you to meet the commandant. Perhaps she can find some explanation for who you are."

Sailor Chibi-Moon was instantly worried. Who could this commandant possibly be? The man led her into into the OSA.P jewellery shop (or what was left of it). He walked into a room, that the little girl correctly guessed belonged to the commandant.

"Sorry to disturb you, princess," said the soldier "but we've found a straggler in Metalia's Sector. Breaking curfew."

"Interesting" replied the figure, who stepped out of the shadows. When she was in full view, Chibi-Usa was shocked.

"Ami, its you!" But Mercury only replied "I'm sorry to disappoint you. You seem to have made a mistake. My name isn't Ami. And I've never seen you before in my life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, it's an alternate timeline. That should have been obvious from the title and the theme of the chapter titles, should you have guessed it. This chapter title is a reference to a G.I. Joe three-parter. Remember that soldier with Chibi-Moon. He'll be important later on


	4. Chapter 3: Brave New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally find out what happened, while this franchise's main character finally shows up.

_This plan had better work. He had put a large amount of effort into it. His previous plan had failed to capture Sailor Moon or her Silver Crystal. But they had proved remarkably successful at capturing the other princesses he had defeated 10 centuries ago. Although Mercury and Mars were held in such a way that they were unconscious, Venus was still awake. He didn't understand why he hadn't taken the liberty of doing so. Based on his predictions, this plan would end with the capture of the Princess of Jupiter. And sure enough, she was there, facing a creature created from synergy generated between two people._

_"Finally I have you where I want you." He said to his nemesis._

_"What are you up to, creep?", demanded the pretty little Scout._

_"I was intending to capture the Moon Princess with this plan. But once more, I shall have to settle for the second place prize." And with that, he activated a freezing machine concealed in the ceiling of the venue._

_"But mister Malachite, what about us?", asked his creation, speaking through both of its mouths._

_"Don't worry. When this is all over, you will be rewarded, like your predecessors. And we will have one less Sailor to stand in our way."_

The Small Lady listened as Amy (as she had introduced herself) explained the history of the last two years. Like her world, there had also been a group of Sailors (scouts in this universe) from the time of the Silver Millennium. But in this universe, things had gone differently to hers. Here, Mamoru (or as he was known here, Darien) had been killed in the final battle with Zoisite before his (or her in this case) unceremonious execution. This had sent Sailor Moon into a depression, that had led to the servants of Queen Beryl capturing all 4 Scouts over the following weeks, at a hair salon, a finishing school, a ski resort and skating classes. Usagi (or as she was known here Serena. These names were difficult to remember) had been forced to reveal her identity to her family to save them from a lake monster. The weeks she spent being grounded afterwards had allowed the Dark Kingdom (the Nega-verse) to recapture their most powerful creatures to serve them. Afterwards, Serena had given up and handed the Silver Crystal over in exchange for her friends. This had allowed Metalia to revitalise and having possessed the body of Queen Beryl, lead her army to begin their takeover with the Kansai region. But that had been just the start of their troubles...

The mission was underway. Lita led her team of 3 (Avery Calaveras, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Hansford and the artist formerly known as Saffron) into the Nega-ground, as Luna had nicknamed it. Their mission was to capture one of the monsters to see if his/her human form could be restored without the Crescent Wand (which now hung in the temple of the Shadow Warrior Veena, the Queen's artist). While their troops initially consisted of monsters from this "other dimension" (she had never quite understood what it was), they had begun converting humans who broke curfew to make up the numbers.

"Quickly, into the alley" insisted Lita, urging her squad off the street. She had come to love the feeling of power that came with leadership. She had begun to see why Raye had coveted it so much. It hurt to think of Raye and what had happened to her. But Jupiter focused her thoughts on the task at hand. They had hidden to escape the notice of a patrol. But seeing who was in the patrol caused Lita to snap back to thoughts of Raye.

It was her grandfather. Or what had used to be him.

Grand Zirconia was alone. He liked to be alone. He could think easier that way. Once he had been nothing but a shell, a puppet of his Queen. His mission had been to find the Golden Dream Crystal that led to the mystical city of Elysion. For this purpose, he had sent three polymorphs to search for the the Dream Mirror that contained Prince Helios. They had succeeded painfully easily. From there, Queen Nehelenia had ordered her forces to raze the city and steal the mystic energy that emanated from the city.

This had been almost too easy. At the end of it, the Amazon Trio had been granted their own dream mirrors, but Zirconia had been given so much more.

He had been given reality. He was now more than just a pale imitation. But to truly feel alive, he had to destroy the Queen first.

To do this, he would have to remove the one thing cementing her power. The one prisoner in the Dark Moon Sector of Tokyo. The former holder of the Golden Grystal. The one person who could end all this.

Sailor Moon.


	5. Chapter 4: Inferno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get interesting

_Malachite walked from the cell area towards Beryl's throne room. He knew things were finally looking up for their forces. Ever since Prince Darien had been accidentally murdered, he had been seemingly blessed with good luck. Although he initially felt somewhat depressed, mostly due to the death of his lover, Zoisite, he had managed to recover. In spite of his past failings, that bumbling fool Jadeite had been released at his insistence. He would need all the help he could get. And it had payed off._

_Within a few weeks, the Sailor Scouts had been captured and, with the exception of Venus, had been quite literally put on ice (or in Mercury's case, wax). Then with the aid of his agents, Sailor Moon had been outed to everyone, demoralising her further. Taking this opportunity, his agents had captured and restored the defeated Shadow Warriors to their side. The old shadows had been joined by four new ones, all of them the agents who had captured the Scouts. Now he entered Beryl's throne room._

" _Report, Malachite. What has happened?"_

_"My Queen. Sailor Moon has officially told my agent Ninjana that she has surrendered. She will hand over her crystal, in exchange for her friends."_

_"Excellent work. Once the Silver Crystal is mine, have the four Sailor Scouts killed."_

Chibi continued to listen as Amy (it had taken a while to get used to the name) concluded her tale. After Metalia had begun building her army, Serena just decided to devote all her time to dealing with the threat without the aid of the Silver Crystal. But then the Heart Snatchers began appearing in Tokyo. They easily managed to take Raye's pure heart with minimal resistance. The Sailor Scouts had found new allies in the form of Sailors Uranus and Neptune. But, as in Usagi's (she had decided to drop the diminutive here) world, these girls were holding two of the three talismans needed to create the Holy Grail (or the Purity Chalice, as it was here). This was all the enemy needed to awaken their Mistress and begin their takeover. Sailor Venus - Mina (at least that was similar enough) had appeared to die trying to stop them.

Then the Dark Moon Circus showed up soon afterwards, going after Serena, who was holding the Golden Mirror in this world. Then Venus came back from hiding, only for her and Michuiru (Michelle)to disappear on separate missions. Now Tokyo was a battleground between three separate queens; Metalia, Mistress 9 and Nehelenia.

But now Usagi turned her attention to the man who had saved her. "And who are you? You never answered me before."

The soldier replied "My name is Akil Bomani," he removed his helmet to reveal an Asian man with long, white hair "but I was once known as Malachite."

Metalia sat on her throne. It still felt strange to think about. After nearly 2 years, she still hadn't got used to the idea of physical existence. Her entire existence prior to then had been as a living shadow. She had entered this universe to destroy the Silver Millennium, at the urging of a minor noble named Beryl. To accomplish this, she had corrupted a large number of soldiers (including Prince Darien's 4 elite commanders) and bid them attack, some even being mutated into monsters with extraordinary powers. But then Queen Serenity had used the power of the Crystal to banish the Queen and her followers into what became a Dark Kingdom.

Now, she had a body, willingly donated by Beryl, under a misguided attempt to gain more power. Her palace was made in the national landmark of this city. The Crystal was in her possession, as the jewel of her crown. Her palace was guarded by the four warriors that had successfully captured the four Sailor Scouts, now upgraded into Shadow Warriors. That fool Jadeite had been revived to serve her, receiving a promotion to field leader following Malachite's desertion. Once her rivals were fully defeated, she would proceed to destroy first the planet those meddlesome Sailor Scouts had fought so hard to protect. Then she would go on to destroy the universe, leaving only the Nega-verse.

Chairman Hino was not pleased. A few months ago, he had left for a climate change conference in Kyoto. Then the disaster had struck in Tokyo. He had been forced to leave his daughter, his only family, in order to get to safety. He had then relocated to a rather poor quality embassy in London, England. Once there, he, as well as the other representatives of SEATO and NATO, had begun formulating plans for a counter strike.

Now he was visited by Barry Jansen, a rather oafish American who he had taken a shine to. Now he met with the representatives of the UK and Russia (Terrence Moore and Yuri Prozorov) to sanction the final plan.

"So its agreed then" said the Englander.

"Yes" the other delegates said simultaneously.

"We are going to drop an non-atomic bomb on the affected areas. This will remove the threats to our nations and minimise civilian casualties." The other delegates nodded in agreement. Moore went over to his radio and pressed a button.

"Eagle Striker. You have clearance to proceed with your bombing run. Operation Keep Britain Tidy is a go-for-launch."

Lita continued to watch as the slobbering beast moved past them. Once the only reason to fear this man had been his lecherous tendencies. Now it was his savage, cannibalistic tendencies that terrified people. He was being accompanied by Blizzard, one of the Queen's second generation shadows, formerly a skiing champion with an odd name. Now Lizzie, Saffron and Calaveras were really terrified. With the ape, they could at least hope he hadn't seen them at a glance. But this was different. She would go over every inch of the street until she found them. And then they could either hope for being killed by her Ice powers, or get unwillingly turned into another evil servant of of the evil Queen of Sector 1.

Lizzie silently cried, remembering that the same fate had befallen her brother and the Tsukino family. But with her heightened senses, Blizzard instantly heard the sobs and turned to see the group. Saffron's reaction was short and to the point;

"crap!"

Then the ice creature blasted both Saffron and Lizzie, much to Lita and Calaveras' shared horror. Within seconds, the two were nothing but mindless slaves, a shell of their former selves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was posted a day earlier than you might expect. This is because I won't be able to post more chapters for a while, so I decided to get all the chapters that help set up the main plot up. Anyway, now for the Easter eggs:
> 
> Akil Bomani translates as "intelligent warrior"
> 
> Barry Jansen and Terry Moore are corruptions of actors from the Optimum/Pioneer dub of Sailor Moon. Points if you can guess who.
> 
> Eagle Strike was the name of a book where the big bad wants to bomb every drug field in the world.
> 
> Keep Britain Tidy was a campaign that virgin media had going in the '80s.
> 
> And that's it until next time. Hope you enjoy this and please leave any thoughts or questions in the comments below.


	6. Chapter 5: Mirror, Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sailor Moon finally does something.

_Eugeal returned to the mansion, pulling up behind the back. Not that she really needed to. Very few people still drove a car in Tokyo, not since the appearance of Metalia. But she still did so, primarily because it saved time. This time, she had come back with two of the three talismans that Dr. Tomoe needed. This would show that arrogant Mimette that she was still useful._

_Walking down the grand 1800's hallway, Eugeal turned into the grand hall. Inside was a pile of stuffed toys, at the centre of which stood a throne. Sitting in the chair was Mistress 9's human host, a little girl. Next to the throne stood Dr. Tomoe, still framed in shadow with a rictus grin. That was how he always looked._

_"I trust you actually have something to show us this time my dear", the doctor said in his usual tone._

_"Oh yes, Doctor", said the witch. "I've brought with me two of the talismans that form the Purity Chalice."_

_"Good!", said the little girl in a voice that was obviously not her own. "Give them to me at once!" Eugeal complied, fearing reprisals. There was a blinding flash, two Pure Hearts emerged from the items and the little girl transformed into a grown woman._

What was the point? Jadeite had asked the same question multiple times since his reawakening. His life had become boring since his so-called deity had possessed his Queen and named herself. But Metalia had proven even more ineffective than Beryl ever had. If he had the power of the Crystal in his control, he would unleash death and destruction across this planet, then the universe. All would be silenced, in his name. To this end, he had found an ally in his enemy, the Dark Moon Circus. The evolved avatar known as Zirconia, who had similar intentions to his own.

After they had deposed their respective rulers, he would begin to exact a terrible vengeance on those he saw fit to target. First, he would go after the defector Malachite and reward him as a traitor of his caliber deserved. Then he would destroy Sailors Moon and Mercury for causing his temporary imprisonment (those blasted Heart Snatchers had robbed him of the chance to do the same to Sailor Mars). Oh, it was going to be good.

Serena came to. She was inside a circus tent, the one used by the evil Queen that had captured her. She was tied to what looked like the target used in a knife-throwing act. If she was awake, then that meant that someone had rendered the guard on duty (one of four Sailor Scouts that Nehelenia had lied to. They were probably unaware of their heritage when they'd first met) unconscious. But that didn't matter now. She was awake and could free herself. The bonds holding her were very loose, but then again, they weren't planning for her waking up. After she freed herself, she made for the entrance, only to be cornered by a female Remless. This one resembled a cross between a balloon animal, a clown and a Valkyrie.

Before this monster could attack, a dream mirror materialised in front of her. Seeing this and recalling what Nehelenia had told her over their many discussions, she tried a theory by pushing the mirror into the creature. The Remless convulsed, surrounded itself with a brilliant light and turned back into her true form; Mina. Momentarily shocked to see her friend, Serena recovered quickly. "It's okay, Mina.", she said reassuringly. "We'll be back to safety in no time." From the shadows, Grand Zirconia watched them go, the first stage of his ally's grand plan.

Lita and Calaveras were both taken aback. Their comrades had been turned into monsters before their eyes. Lizzie had become a blue woman with insect-like eyes, wearing a French maid outfit. Saffron had become a grey-skinned, horned creature with spotlights for breasts, a dress made out of gold stars, with shoulder pads resembling microphones. But despite their ridiculous appearance, both of them knew from experience that these creatures could be deadly. They each engaged one of the two creatures that had once been their sisters-in-arms.

Lita and the maid creature grappled with each other for several minutes, with the enemy summoning and throwing weapons such as tea trays and hot coffee. Soon, Jupiter was downed by her opponent. But before the creature could finish her off, it was blasted by a beam of light and restored to its-her human form. Lita looked up to see what had shot the beam, only to be surprised. It was a small blue Siamese cat with a crescent on its forehead. Just like Luna and Artemis.

Seeing the little girl's shocked reaction, as well as that of the woman he had come to see as his superior (he had told no one who knew him his identity), Malachite began to explain. "It all started when Beryl had captured all 4 Sailor Scouts." He began. "I saw that unlike me, she truly had no regard for life. I should have seen it with what had happened to Neflyte and Zoisite." He briefly paused on the thought of his deceased lover. The he continued "I finally lost all loyalty to her when she intended to double cross the princess and have you killed once she possessed the Crystal. I had you freed, unbeknownst to anyone. Then when Beryl was consumed by Metalia, I decided to serve the new queen for a while, until I had enough power to sneak away with a few minions whose transformation I'd managed to reverse."

Not wanting to give them any false hope for their plans, he clarified "They still maintain their powers and transformations, but they have no loyalty to the Nega-verse. Whereas I joined your main rebellion, they went off and formed their own splinter group." Seeing their surprise at this, he decided "I'll take you to them, if you wish."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, you probably get that title reference.
> 
> The thing with the dream mirror is entirely my own invention. There's nothing canonical stating otherwise.
> 
> The monster descriptions are homages to the Neathians and the Gundalians of Bakugan.


	7. Chapter 6: Men Like Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends reunited as a countdown to oblivion begins

Sailor Ceres was getting worried. She had been placed in charge of guarding the prisoner by her Queen. Then Grand Zirconia had shown up and knocked her out with a basic distraction. When she had come to, the false princess and Zirconia were gone. Now she had to report this to her majesty. She knew that Nehelenia would very likely not forgive her transgressions. But despite this, she still had an oath of undying loyalty to her. After all, she was Queen of the lost Moon Kingdom, not this treacherous girl with the Meatball-hair who had claimed that right for months, in a misguided attempt to force a betrayal. Without the Queen, she and her comrades, the Asteroid Scouts would be stuck living primitive, backwards lives on Earth in the Amazon.

Now with the Moon rendered uninhabitable by the Nega-force, her majesty had made plans to turn Earth into her new seat of power. In order to secure this noble goal, they needed to dispose of all those who would oppose the mighty Queen. Starting with the traitor.

Malachite led his party into an alleyway. Since leaving the jewellery shop, he, Amy and the girl named Usagi had been joined by one Sergeant Berthier and by Sailor Uranus, who was planning the final strike on Mistress 9. He now showed them the few warriors of the Nega-verse he had managed to partially purify. Among them was the psychic boy known as Gregory, alter ego of the brutish Bumboo Kid. He had been the only one of Beryl's original shadow warriors to be restored. The restoration had restored the human memories of these poor souls, in addition to giving them the ability to reassume their human forms.

Others restored included Polite Society, formerly the Countess Rose, Papillon, formerly an English businesswoman and Ninjana, formerly a tabloid reporter. Also among the group were three regular minions, who had defected in response to Jadeite's recent bout of insanity. They were named Balm, Iguana and Cyrene.

Malachite watched as Mercury and Bumboo's alter ego had a tender moment to themselves. He'd forgotten about the relationship they'd had. Suddenly the groups were greeted by 2 people they had not expected to see again. Sailor Moon and her bodyguard Sailor Venus.

Lita could only watch as Lizzie recovered from her ordeal, with little more than a migraine. She was more amazed at the blue kitten than the fact a nega-monster had been restored. She had three questions for this strange cat. "Who are you, how did you do that and do you know anything about Luna and Artemis?(who hadn't been seen since the Silence set up shop)"

The blue cat replied in a very sweet voice "I'm called Diana, to answer your first question. To answer the second question, I merely transmitted a signal that cancelled out the impulses that turned her into that creature. I've worked on it for some time. As for your final question, Luna and Artemis are my parents in the future."

"The future?", replied Sailor Jupiter in confusion.

"Well," said Diana "a future. I was trying to return there when an anomaly opened in the time gate. Me and my charge, the Small Lady were sucked into it and got separated." Lita took this in easily, assuming (correctly) that the Small Lady was that little girl she saw earlier. "I wondered around for a while, trying to find out when I was. Soon, I realised I was in an alternate space-time altogether. Probably a result of our recent erasure from our timeline." Lita realised that this cat could be a help to them.

Mina finally had time to register her surroundings. She had barely had time since receiving a new dream mirror. It was disconcerting after several months of having to forcibly serve an evil queen, turning people into mindless minions the same way they did to her, being awake and aware the whole time. Now she could finally think straight after so long in the dark. The first thing she saw was her old friend Katherine from her time in London.

"Hey there, Kitty-cat.", she said with some effort. "How've you been these past few years?"

Her old friend didn't seem particularly shocked to see her, considering how things had been the last time they'd parted. "Well," said her old friend "since we last saw each other, I've been through a few changes."

Mina was shocked at what happened next; Katherine turned into a beautiful, butterfly-like humanoid. But then "Papillon", as she called herself explained how she had been recruited to serve Malachite, been freed from her forced loyalty and joined a small splinter resistance cell.

Then the former friends turned as Sailors Moon and Mercury, along with a strange pink-haired girl, began to talk about the plan. "Were going to stage an attack on Queen Metalia's Sector in order to recover the Crescent Wand and the Silver Crystal. Then we meet up with Lita's group and move on to Sector 2. In a few hours, we'll have most of the city taken back. But we don't have much time. According to Greg (who Mina realised was the only male of the group, besides Malachite), the SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organisation), in accordance with their European counterpart (NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) are going to drop an explosive on Tokyo tomorrow at 11. The energy released will only make our enemies powerful enough to conquer the world. We have until then to triumph."

Sailor Moon then decided to give a rallying cry "Alright team, move out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what the title references. Can anyone tell me?
> 
> At least four of the characters hail from episodes skipped by the original dub. Basically, my consensus is that since they were never dubbed, they didn't happen.
> 
> No flashbacks from this point, because I ran out of material


	8. Chapter 7: The Alternative Factor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get an actual cliffhanger this time

Lita, Elizabeth and the blue cat named Diana reached the streets where their group had been ambushed. Blizzard and her slobbering partner had gone. Calaveras was still fighting the pop star creature. 

"Okay Diana.", said Lita "I need you to do that thing you just did." 

"I'm sorry.", replied the kitten "I only had enough energy for one use." Then, the creature ignored it's original prey and turned towards them. Before it had a chance to touch them, a blinding light hit the group. 

When it cleared, the creature stopped dead in it's tracks and reverted to Saffron. "I'm sorry, I lost control of myself there.", the artist said weakly. 

They all turned to see Jupiter's old enemy Malachite, clutching his right arm. With him was Sailor Mercury, Sailor Uranus, the little girl in the sailor suit, a few people they either did or didn't recognise and two people Jupiter had never expected to see again. Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus, returned to them.

Mistress 9 was troubled. Her plan had been working perfectly. By provoking fear and paranoia in the minds of the people, she would get the foreign powers to drop an explosive on this city. She would then absorb this energy and use it to wreak destruction on the world. But she sensed that the Sailor Scouts were once more a (mostly) full team once more. They would find some way to either stop the strike or remove her before the strike could take place. She had not spent 7 years conceiving herself in the body of a human child to be defeated by these girls. She had to take action against them. 

To that end, she called Mikusi into her throne room. Despite it's simple mind, the Sovereign had taken a preference to this creature. This was partially because it had inadvertently succeeded in taking out the one named Sailor Mars. 

"Gather all our forces, Mikusi.", commanded the Sovereign. "We're going to hunt down and destroy the Sailor Scouts. And bring my pet. She hasn't been fed all day. I'm sure Sailor Uranus will be happy to see her one last time."

In the dimension of the Time Gateway, Sailor Pluto sensed something wrong. Something had crossed over from another universe. This only happened in the event of a massive paradox. The outlier had resurfaced in the late 20th century, during the time of the war or dominion in Tokyo. She knew the people would never recover from the after effects until the time of Crystal Tokyo. 

Perhaps this outlier may play a part in assuring a more positive outcome. Sailor Mars and Prince Darien may not need to be resurrected if this resulted in a better path. Casualty would sort itself out after these events. Then she would help the outlier return to their universe. All would be right with the world.

Sailor Mercury had finished a lengthy explanation of their plan to Jupiter's group. With their 4 additional soldiers, plus the mysterious cat that apparently knew the little girl named Usagi, they now had a force of 18. This put them in a good position to execute their plan in a time limit satisfying the time until the bombing began. Everyone had been bought up to speed on the current events. Now they were about to enter the fortress of the Shadow Warrior known as Veena. She had Serena's Crescent Moon Wand displayed on her wall as a piece of art. Not that many would see it, considering the lack of visitors. Amy watched as Malachite's de-brainwashed minions assumed their Nega-monster forms. As the group headed towards the fortress, they were faced by two of the other Shadow Warriors. 

They were Techniclon, Mistress of Science and Mitsuami, a monster composed of the staff of a barbershop. Greg and the Countess held them off so the others could get inside. As they proceeded further into the building, they lost members of their party until only Serena and Amy were left. They reached the demon artist's inner sanctum, where the wand was on display. But they were confronted by Veena herself, who would do everything to take them out, even lethal force.


	9. Chapter 8: Rhythms of Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Endgame begins

The winged creature stood there, laughing insanely. With a wave of her hand, she sent a feather up into the air. The feather drew a 3D image of a rock and then vanished. The rock then became a real rock and dropped down at the two Sailor Scouts. Thinking quickly, Serena and Amy jumped out of the way. Serena then tried to make a move towards the Crescent Wand, but she collapsed from the lack of energy. Taking this chance, Veena tried to swoop in for the final blow.

Then Malachite appeared, blasting her with some of his energy. At this, the Shadow Warrior stopped, a shocked look on her face. She then regressed to her human form, the artist Peggy Jones. But Mercury was more focused on Malachite, collapsed on the floor with pain.

"What's happening to you?", asked Amy.

"I'm sorry, Princess.", he replied. "Every time I restore the human memories of Metalia's servants, I expend more energy. Soon, I will disappear for good."

Metalia convulsed in pain. She could sense the links with more of her servants being severed. She had sensed this earlier tonight, but with a warrior she had not fully linked to. Now she decided that action must be taken.

"Jadeite, come forth", she commanded.

On cue, the last of her 4 elite commanders had entered the room. "You called, my Queen?", he said.

"Yes, Jadeite. I can sense some of my minions being cut off from my influence. They will have regained their independence and humanity. Such concepts have no place in my kingdom. I want you to bring these headaches to an end."

"As you wish, my Queen!" And with a ghoulish grin on his face, he summoned a blade made of fire, using it to slash the neck of his once master.

Fatally wounded, Queen Metalia whimpered "You betrayed me. I didn't expect that." And with that last breath, the evil matriarch of the Negative Forces knew no more.

Satisfied, Jadeite stepped up to her corpse - Beryl's corpse - now rotting with no-one to control the power holding it together. He grabbed the decaying head and absorbed a wave of energy from it. Let those pathetic creatures that once served him suffer. With this power, he could begin to silence everything. He just needed a receptacle for his power; the Silver Crystal should fit the bill. But the Crystal was gone, cleared of its corruption and returned to its original owner, Sailor Moon. But there was another crystal with equal power.

In Sector 3, Nehelenia could sense something was wrong. To that end, she summoned her four bodyguards, the Asteroid Guardians, to her throne room. Soon, Sailor Pallas, Sailor Juno, Sailor Ceres and Sailor Vesta were gathered in her presence.

"My warriors," she began, "we are facing an attack from an unknown force. You must triumph over this new threat in the name of the Moon and of your Queen."(that last part was a clever lie used to assure their loyalty. It also allowed her to once more rule as a queen)

"Yes, your highness.", replied the four sailors unquestioningly.

Good, thought Nehelenia. That kind of blind loyalty was the kind she expected from her subjects. Before she could tell them where to go, a dark, humanoid shadow burst in through the ceiling. The four Amazon warriors attacked it with everything they had, but it just shrugged them off. It then waved it's arm destroying the building and crushing everyone.

"What are you?", asked Queen Nehelenia before collapsing unconscious. The creature replied **"I am the Doom Phantom. All shall be silenced in my name. Starting with you!"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the Doom Phantom is here. I wasn't going to leave him out of this.
> 
> This chapter's events were one of the first things I had planned out in the writing stage. I was inspired by reading on a wiki that there was a theory among fans of the Canadian dub (like me) that Wiseman was a reincarnation of Jadeite, since they shared the same VA. I decided to include that theory here.
> 
> I promise that the next chapter will have a lot more going on, plus a reveal I've been setting up since chapter 1.


	10. Chapter 9: The War to End All Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The action escalates and the big reveal comes out.

Grand Zirconia was shocked. This creature wasn't part of the plan. He had sensed that his enemy Queen Metalia had been destroyed. This meant that Jadeite had succeeded in his plan. That meant that this creature, somehow, was Jadeite.

"Stop!", he cried out to the creature. "This wasn't part of the plan." The Doom Phantom turned away from his current prey - Queen Nehelenia's court - and turned towards the pathetic avatar, gazing at it with angry red eyes.

 **"I no longer have any use for you, you sad creature. I have everything I need."** With this, he floated over to to Grand Zirconia, and impaled him with a blade formed from his arms. His energy drained, the male avatar of the queen of the dark moon was reduced to rags. **"Power! The infinite power! Now I shall render the same fate upon all the vermin polluting this pathetic planet."**

From beneath the rubble, Nehelenia looked on in horror. It looked as if only the Sailor Scouts could save her now, as much as she hated to admit it.

Serena looked up at the beam of black light, shooting in the sky. This was the second weirdest thing to happen in the last few minutes. The first had been all the Nega-monsters having simultaneous seizures. The few they had on their side had used the same partial healing as Malachite, which had bought him more time. Now they had an army to fight off the other two rulers of Tokyo. But then this beam had appeared out of Sector 3, which had caused their entire force to stop, stunned.

"Amy," began Serena "what was that?"

Mercury replied "I'm not sure, but it seemed to be composed of the same dark energy as the Nega-force that possessed Queen Beryl and destroyed the Moon Kingdom." But before they could discuss it further, Mistress 9 appeared in front of them, flanked by an army of Heart Snatchers and her fabled "pet".

"Sorry," said the extraterrestrial entity, "but this is the end of the line for you all. Warriors of the Tau Nebula, attack!"

_It could only see vague glimpses of it's past. A mirror, the water, string music, an endless sky. It didn't know what these images meant, or what role they had played in its old life. But now it had been freed by the oppressor the servants referred to as the Sovereign. It hoped to see a face it could recognise among the crowd. Then it found one with its enhanced senses. A girl, tall, blonde hair, cut short, dressed in sailor fuku._

Sailor Uranus had prepared for this. She had spent years planning for some ultimate confrontation with the Sovereign of Silence. Now it had finally happened. If only Michelle were here to see this day. Instead, Amara had to fight this battle with her unlikely allies, the Sailor Scouts and the denizens of the Dark Kingdom. For this fight, she had partnered with the little girl Sailor (she called herself Sailor Chibi-Moon). The little girl clearly had access to more power than the others. She could tell that from just her presence. The little girl called Usagi was taking these things out incredibly fast. There was no reason for Uranus not to join the fight. With all her power, she unleashed her special power "Uranus World Shaking!" The blast was powerful enough to reduce several of their attackers to their inanimate forms, including a violin, a record player and - amusingly, Amara thought - a jigsaw puzzle.

"Thanks for saving me there, Uranus", the little girl said gratefully. "Don't mention it, peanut", Uranus replied. Suddenly, they were both approached by Mistress 9's grotesque pet. Uranus and Chibi-Moon prepared to attack, but found that something was preventing them from doing so.

"What's wrong, Sailors?", said the matriarch of the Heart Snatchers. "Don't you recognise your old friend, Sailor Neptune?"

Now that the Queen of the Dark Moon had been taken out, he had the time he needed to gain the Golden Crystal. Then he would have a reciprocal for the power he now possessed. Not wanting to waste precious energy, he decided to use the avatar for his own purposes. The Doom Phantom imbued it with his energy, creating a cloaked figure, who appeared to be in partial silhouette.

The avatar, newly dubbed "Wiseman" by his creator, set out to the gallery where the gem was held by Nehelenia. There, Wiseman ran into Zirconia's former servants, Tiger's Eye, Hawk's Eye and Fish's Eye. With his limited power reserves, Wiseman reduced them to their original, animal forms and grabbed the Crystal, taking it back to the Doom Phantom.

**"Excellent work, my puppet. It won't be long now..."**

_It remembered now. It was a she. Her name was Michelle Kaiou. The girl in front of her was her cousin, Amara Tenou. She was really Sailor Neptune, Sailor Scout of the Sea. She had come to Mistress 9's house to try and destroy her or the two talismans she had collected. But something had gone wrong. She had ended up in a dimension made up of board games. Obviously that witch Mimette was responsible for that. The heart-snatcher that inhabited this dimension had challenged her to a game and cheated, imprisoning her. She remembered being taken before the Sovereign of Silence herself._ "Good work, U-Ikasaman. Stupid as she may have been, Mimette had the right idea. Perhaps I can make use of this one." _She had remembered little of her old life after that. Now, she had one thought "break free"._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was it. The pet was Sailor Neptune all along. I've been planning that since day 1. The description of the creature was based on the Daimons in the manga, one of which appeared in Uranus' origin episode. I rendered her internal monologue in italics to show something was wrong with it.


	11. Chapter 10: Aspects of Evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The action heats up in preparation for the climax

Serena was surrounded by Heart Snatchers. These things were demons that could adapt by taking over different objects as their physical forms. She knew that they would be difficult to defeat, remembering what had happened to Sailor Mars. But she knew she could still fight them 'til the bitter end. She used her "Moon Tiara Magic" attack to defeat a car monster. Another one was about to attack her, but it was stopped by one of the reformed Nega-Verse monsters, a spider-woman. It looked exactly like the one Neflyte had once used to attack her teacher, Miss Lambert. Then she came face to face with their leader, Mistress 9.

"Well Sailor Moon, we meet at last. I'm looking forward to tearing you apart. Or better yet, I'll have one of your Scouts do it for me." At this, the red blob that was once Sailor Neptune turned and attacked.

It was time to stop. He had lived at this old temple since Metalia had begun to take over. He'd disguised himself both to avoid recognition and to fend off any attackers, a role he had so far succeeded in. The dialect class he had taken with Andrew had helped in this. But now he sensed that something had happened. He had seen the black light wave fly across the sky.

He had sensed the power of Nehelenia's Golden Crystal (though he didn't quite understand his connection to it) leave its receptacle and enter him. This had the effect of restoring all memories of his past lives. He could see it all; his parents, his time as the prince, the betrayal his trusted warriors had inflicted on him, his romance with the princess Serena. It was all so clear to him. He'd also unlocked a new skill he hadn't been aware of. The ability to heal anything. Hopefully this included death.

Tuxedo Mask would need all the help he could get.

The now-empty Crystal was in his possession. He had dispersed the useless healing powers within it, intending to fill it with his dark power. Blasting the gem, it began to grow and change shape. Soon, the Crystal was ready for him to merge his conscience into it. With this act, the Malefic Black Crystal had come into being. Now he would need followers to guard it from interlopers. And he knew exactly where to find them.

Byruit was bored. She had joined up with this outfit to get some action when they eventually took over the world. Since then, she and her 3 remaining human co-workers, Eugeal, Tellulu and Cyprine, had been demoted to worse than Heart Snatchers. At least they got to go out and gather pure hearts. If Byruit was in charge of that task, she knew her nano machines would gather many more. Even the methods those other idiots she worked with employed would be more effective. Even now, everyone but them was in the middle of a battle that could mean the end of that pest Sailor Mercury's rebellion. She should be seeing action out there with the others, not cooped up in a lab doing nothing. Suddenly, a black shadow with red eyes phased through the wall frightening all of them.

**"I am the Doom Phantom. And I have need of all of you."**

Chibi-Moon could see that Uranus was shocked. After all, she had been. That Daimon was really Sailor Neptune, who everyone had believed dead. Now, Usagi believed that the wretched thing wished it was. She knew that she had to help her regain her lost humanity. She just had to use the power of the Illusionary Silver Crystal. It had been locked inside her ever since she had tried to take it during the return of the Black Moon Clan. Thinking of them filled the Small Lady with 3 separate emotions; Curiosity (would they come to exist here?), longing for home and PTSD (from the time she spent as a minion of the Death Phantom). But pushing these thoughts aside, she cried out "Moon Crystal Healing Escalation!"

With this declaration, energy flowed from her into the creature, which had now moved on to attacking Sailor Moon. It convulsed an writhed from the purification rays. Then, there was a flash of light. Once it cleared, the horrific creature, was gone, replaced by a girl in the same uniform as the other Sailors. A white seed dropped out of her body and shattered, releasing a puff of black smoke. At this, Sailor Neptune looked up, confused. "Amara, what's happening? How did I get here?"

Elsewhere, the Doom Phantom looked on with satisfaction. If he still had a mouth, he'd be smiling. Now these girls would serve as his handmaidens of destruction. They had been gifted with abilities based upon their specialities. Eugeal was now a creature composed of flame. Tellulu had a body with chlorophyll replacing blood platelets, making her part vegetable. Byruit had a body that could disassemble and reassemble at will. Finally, Cyprine and her alter ego Ptilol had been merged into one personality, capable of duplicating an enemy's attack.

 **"This is not enough. I still need more if I am to defeat those meddling Sailor Scouts."** At this, Byruit used her abilities to disassemble the objects in the laboratory, reassembling them into bodies of various shapes and sizes. The Phantom used fragments of his dark crystal to animate these creatures. Now, they would launch their attack. And nothing would stop them.

Elsewhere, the Queen of the Dark Moon pulled herself out of the rubble. She caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror. To her shock, she had reverted to her true form; a hideous old hag.

Mistress 9 was angry. They had tried her patience for the last time. It was time to assume her ultimate form. "Now you will face me at my full potential!", she shouted towards Sailor Moon. With this, she shed her human body, causing it to revert to a 12 year-old girl. But Serena soon turned her attention to the enemy. She had assumed a large, liquid-based body. It launched its arms of gunk at Sailor Moon, knocking her unconscious. But before the Sovereign of Silence could strike the final blow, she was blasted by a fireball, that seemingly came from nowhere.

"You didn't think you'd have this party without us, did you?"

At this, Sailors Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune and Chibi-Moon turned around. They were all shocked by who they saw. Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Mars, both alive and well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the end for a while, since I need to finish writing the next chapter. The various unusual elements will be explained in the epilogue. I hope you go and check out my other story in the meantime.


	12. Chapter 11: Flashpoint.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle reaches its climax, as a new ally that could turn things around enters the fray.

"What's wrong there, guys? You look like you've seen a ghost.", Sailor Mars shouted towards her friends on the ground.

"I think we are seeing ghosts.", replied Mercury. "Two in fact."

"Don't worry, Sailor Mercury.", said Tuxedo Mask, leaping into the fray. "I'll explain everything when this is over." Then he threw three of his trademark roses at the Heart Snatchers, taking a few of them out of the battle.

"What are you supposed to be?", said the elite warrior Cenicienta.

"I am Tuxedo Mask, defender of all that is good and innocent. And I won't stand creeps like you in my town." With this, he pulled a sword from his cane and engaged the glass creature in battle. After a prolonged struggle, the creature was defeated, reduced to her original form of a glass slipper. But Darien had no time to celebrate, as the Doom Phantom arrived, accompanied by an army of his army of "sand androids" (Droids for short). But as these events played out, no-one noticed Mistress 9's former host turn into a Sailor Scout. Nor did they notice Sailor Moon fading away.

Now it would begin. He had the army he needed to rid the city of the opposing resistance forces. He had turned his new servants into more of these "droids". Now he would begin the destruction with these pitiful humans. But instead of the vacuous airhead Moon Princess he was expecting, he was facing her shallow, pretty-boy boyfriend, Prince Darien. Clearly he had more lives than a cat. But another target so that soon drew his full attention. The traitor Malachite was on the front line. He moved to attack him, knocking him to the floor. **"Now you will pay for what your betrayal of our shared cause."**

Malachite was confused. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?"

 **"Don't you remember the old days, where we would served alongside Neflyte and Zoicite?"** , the shadow yelled, accusingly. **"Remember how we hunted down and slaughtered Sailor Uranus and Neptune, so that Queen Beryl could launch her invasion undetected? Remember how you lobbied for me to be freed from my eternal sleep, so that I could help in your plans to capture the Silver Crystal? How we tricked Beryl into becoming an unwitting vessel for the Nega-Force?"**

At these words, the former member of the Shittenou realised who he was talking to. "Jadeite, is that you? What happened?"

 **"I've moved beyond the need for a queen. I am my own leader now. I shall wipe out all the vermin that inhabit the universe to show that I am more effective than Beryl and Metalia ever were. My name is Wiseman, and I live to kill anyone who would stand in my way."** He began to grow in size and turned his arm into a large pike. **"Starting with you."**

Elsewhere, Sailor Moon woke up in some strange place. It resembled the Ancient Greek temples she had seen on a vacation with her family. It was painful to think of them. She felt partially responsible for what had happened for them. If that lake monster hadn't attacked them, she wouldn't have had to blow her identity to everyone. When the army's of the Nega-verse had attacked, her family were the first to be targeted. Presumably, they were down there, fighting as some of those creatures that Malachite and his army had converted to their side. That thought filled her with some small relief.

Suddenly she noticed two figures sitting at an ornate table. One of them was a woman with green hair and dark skin, dressed in a Sailor uniform. The other woman had Silver hair, styled in the same meatball-style as Serena herself. She felt like she should know them, but she couldn't recall where from.

"Don't be afraid," the silver-haired woman said calmly "all will be clear to you soon."

Seeing the giant black creature arrive, the Sovereign decided to act against it. But as she lunged, it turned around and zapped her with his dark energy. Weakened, she turned towards her former body, the girl named Hotaru, who was now floating in mid-air. Mistress 9 knew she was beginning her awakening as Sailor Saturn, the warrior of death. But then the monster struck again, before she could reintegrate with her host.

 **"Oh no, there's no retreat into that form for you!"** And with that, the creature fell apart into the goop that formed her. Then he redirected towards his former comrade, raising his arm for the kill.

"Stop!", yelled a little girl, running out from nowhere. She was dressed like a Sailor slut. Good. He could destroy one problem and turn another to his side through the dark energy he now possessed. One blast caused the little girl to lunge sideways, trying to cope with the energy.

But this had given Malachite the chance he needed to launch a final attack. The Silver-haired man unleashed his full energy, which caused his body to disintegrate. "Zoisite, my love, I'm coming.", he said before he faded from existence. But this had weakened the monster long enough for the other Sailors to take notice of their new member.

"Who is she?" "I don't know. She's just a kid." "She's no older than my little cousin." "Given the probabilities, she's very likely either the Scout for Pluto or Saturn. Maybe even Sedna." And the the girl woke up.

"You know", she said "I am a living being too. Not an object to be talked about." And then she turned to Mercury. "And you were right on your second guess. I am Sailor Saturn. The guardian of destruction and rebirth."

"What does that mean?", Michelle asked, confused.

"It means that I exist for one purpose.", the little girl replied. "To eradicate evil throughout the universe. I lay dormant inside the body of Hotaru Tomoe, who was consumed by the Sovereign of Silence at a young age. Now she is gone, I shall do that which I was born for."

"You mean, you're going to go up and destroy that thing?", Mina said, trying to conceal the horror in her reaction. "But that could mean you lose your life."

But Sailor Saturn merely smiled back at her. "I am merely doing what I was born to do. Once it has been done, the innocents shall be free and the nightmare will be over."

With that, she reached her hand into the sky and called out "Silent Scythe"! Then, such a weapon appeared in her hand. Then the little girl flew off the ground and into the giant black creature. "With the scythe of the goddess of death, I bid you begone!"

 **"No!"** , the Doom Phantom cried out. **"I will not be destroyed. I will survive!"**

And then, a bomb fell from the sky onto the giant creature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, everything since Mercury concocted the plan to take back the city took 8 hours. It may not seem like it, but a lot of stuff happened offscreen.
> 
> Anyone familiar with superheroes should know what the title is referencing. It refers to the bomb going off at the end of the chapter.
> 
> For this chapter, I wrote the Phantom's dialogue similarly to Coredegon from Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge, since they're both eldritch abominations who manipulate banished minions and use the alias "Wiseman". But his accusations are modelled after a one off Doctor Who character called "Pudovkin".
> 
> You should know who the people Serena runs into are. If you don't, shame on you.


	13. Chapter 12: The Last Word.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything gets wrapped up in a way that leaves you wanting more.

From the diary of Amy Anderson, aka Sailor Mercury. Dated September 8th.  
_Hello, Kitty.  
I never thought I'd see this day. The city is finally free of oppression. When the bomb fell on the creature, it was fragmented into several pieces, which then scattered throughout. We decided not to search for them, since it would probably result in a lot of dead ends and red herrings. However, we did find a baby girl near where the creature had stood. We knew it was Sailor Saturn, somehow reduced once more to infancy. As soon as we are done rebuilding, Amara and her friend Michelle have volunteered to take her in. Without the creature to maintain them, his servants crumbled to dust, leaving nothing but the gems on their foreheads. From what some of the combatants described, some of them were Mistress 9's witches; Eugeal, Telulu, Byruit and Cyprine/Ptilol. Even considering how bad they were, none of them deserved that fate._

_Our next order of business was accounting for the aftermath of the conflict. Tuxedo Mask - Darien - explained the story of his survival. The shard that Zoicite had stabbed him with had hit him in an area where, half an inch either way, the wound would have been fatal. After that, he had gone into hiding with the help of a mysterious woman, posing as the man at the temple. We had all assumed this was Chad, the former rockstar who had become an apprentice after his career ended. But now it appears that he was Heart-snatched at a maglev station, obviously trying to flee town. When Raye was attacked by the heart snatcher Mikusi, Darien had been tasked with preserving her life until he had the power to fully revive her. This power had appeared suddenly during the final battle. We theorise that this has something to do with the Golden Crystal, which seems to have disappeared from Nehelenia's Sector around the same time. Perhaps this had something to do with the attack by the shadow creature and his cloaked servant, as described by eyewitnesses._

_Talking of Nehelenia, you may be wondering what happened to her and the Amazon Scouts. It seems that they retreated within the mirror that the Queen was trapped in by Queen Serenity 1000 years ago. When we tried asking her why she did this, she only repeated the words "Never doubt the dreams of beautiful dreamers" over and over again. Her servants claimed that she began ageing rapidly as her power dissolved and retreated to the mirror to remain young forever. However, we cannot verify that what they said was true. But we decided to ensure she could never be disturbed again, by sending her mirror to the one place where the light of an eclipse would never reach it; the bottom of the Mariana Trench, where little sunlight can reach her at all. However, given the fact that no time passes in the world of the mirror, I wonder how humane this really is, or considering the horrible things her servants did to many people, including Mina, what she deserves._

_One negative thing to come from this aftermath are the disappearances. First, the little girl from the alternate universe, Usagi, vanished completely without a trace. We are assuming her deceased from the blast created by the bomb exploding. Another disappearance, more distressing than the little girl, was Serena. It appears that she had vanished around the time that Raye and Darien made their return. As we began to worry, a green-haired woman appeared from a strange portal._

_"My name is Trista Meioh, but otherwise I am known as Sailor Pluto", the woman said to us. "You shouldn't worry about your friend, the princess Serena.", she assured us "She is in a safe place where she is training to fulfil her destiny." She told us that she had come to take Prince Darien with her, so that he too could fulfil this destiny. Of the three remaining original Sailor Scouts (myself, Raye and Lita), Raye was the saddest to see him go. I'd almost forgotten they were in a relationship at one point. Sailor Pluto assured us that we would see Serena and Darien again, when the time was right for them to return. Until then, we shall have to keep defending the world in their name._

_And finally, we come to the big question: what next? Well, we intend to find the remaining Youma who weren't "liberated" by Malachite's life energy. Then we can take them somewhere secure until we can find a cure for their condition. The ones that helped us, like Greg, intend to return to their normal lives. But for now, the people are going to rebuild the city. And we, the Sailor Scouts intend to continue the fight against evil. In memory of Molly, Melvin, Malachite and everyone who died trying to liberate Tokyo from evil. And less importantly, we intend to find that little girl, so we can return her to her correct universe, safe and sound._  
With Regards.  
A

She had only just managed to crawl away from the blast. The Phantom had been shattered into pieces of black crystal and scattered across the cosmos. But he had survived. And he would return someday to wreak his plans of universal genocide on the Earth. She had seen it before, or at least a version of it. Before his untimely defeat, she had remembered something she had forgotten. How her parents had neglected her and left her to fend for herself. How her so-called friends forgot her birthday. How she was forced to go back in time to stay with people who at best tolerated her. Here, with nothing about the future written, she could get her revenge on them, even if it was their counterparts. Thanks to the Wiseman, she was no longer small and no longer weak.

She was the Black Lady. And she would conquer the world, in the name of all that is evil.

To Be Continued!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a break from tradition, I simply decided to call this chapter "The Last Word" purely because it's an epilogue.
> 
> "Hello, Kitty" is both an obvious reference and another actor allusion.
> 
> Yes, Black Lady has returned and will be the antagonist in the sequel. If I ever make it, that is.
> 
> Thank you for sticking with me and I hope you have enjoyed this story.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first serious attempt at writing serious fan-fiction. As you may note, the second paragraph uses Japanese character names, but the later ones use the dub names (ie. Esmeraulde=Emerald). This is a subtle hint to the nature of this story. Those three paragraphs were added later on to make this prologue worth reading for some people. They're all based on episodes of the anime, but here are some things that don't match up with the episodes. This is another hint. At the time of writing this, I have written 10 out of a planned 12 chapters. I am currently editing them to add a flashback in every chapter, similar to these last three paragraphs. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I will see you again for chapter 1.


End file.
